drama unfolded at sea. A replica a 200-year-old free masted ship sailed into the wrath of the storm and battled 18-foot waves until the ship went down and passengers huddled in a small raft in 40-mile-per-hour winds and incredibly brave helicopter pilots came to their rescue and our matt guttman is with that story in elizabeth city, north carolina. Reporter: With them slamming around in 50 miles per hour their fuel burning fast the first divers lowered into the unknown. You can see the "h.M.S. Bounty" crew bobbing in waves 30 feet. Their faces poking out. Rescue swimmer dan todd, one of today's heroes. I jumped in. I said, hey, I'm dan, I heard you need a ride. Reporter: Pulling the survivor into the water he would swim it to the helicopter. The pilot fighting to hold it steady at nearly 30 feet. This one is swinging really bad. Reporter: Survivors hoisted up one at a time. Yeah, 20 to 30-foot waves hitting you from different sides. I was tired and then we straight over to the next life raft with three more people. Reporter:14 total across from the mountainous waves and the two-hour flight back to land. Denny fields was one of the pilots. As we left the seen some got emotional realizing they had left shipmates behind. Reporter: Partly because two sailors are still missing. This chopper going back to look. This featured in "mutiny on the bounty" and "pirates of the caribbean." Look at it in this video two years ago and the ship's captain facebooking it's safer at sea than port but it loses its generator, the "the bounty is taking on water. The crew has abandoned ships and human corks bopping and passengers on the disney fantasy cruise leafed around, doors slamming, terrified passengers told to stay in their rooms. Just stay in your cabin. Reporter: Diane, the coast guard told us moments ago they went back out to sea. They managed to find one of those two missing people. They tried to revive the woman. She was unresponsive. The captain of the bounty, diane, is still missing out at sea.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.